What an a*hole. He is "humiliated" because he was caught. What about his subordinate officer who would likely prefer to address this in a back alley mano-a-mano but can't because the Chief is his boss. How does he feel?

Complete lack of leadership here by Helps just passing the buck to Desjardins.

Good thing we have the Vancouver Sun to investigate our local matters.

This is really simple. If Chief Elsner had a 'relationship' with the wife of a subordinate officer then that is such a failure in leadership that he has to go. There is not a single police officer in Victoria who will have any respect for him. The longer Desjardins and Helps try to brush this under the cover the worse it will get.

The Sun isn't holding back. It'll be interesting to see how the TC handles this.

"The Victoria Police Department has suffered through several years of high-profile, embarrassing, issues involving its police chiefs.

Former chief Jamie Graham, who retired in 2013, was disciplined after publicly revealing an undercover officer had been the driver of bus filled with anti-Olympic protesters before the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He was also found in neglect of duty after leaving his loaded service pistol under the seat of his unmarked vehicle in the Victoria department’s parkade. Graham had previously served as Vancouver’s police chief.

Prior to Graham, the Victoria department was headed by Paul Battershill, who was forced to resign in 2008 after an affair with a police board lawyer and a rebellion by several senior staff who had lost confidence in his leadership and refused to work with him.

Victoria’s police board was sharply criticized at that time for its slow handling of the Battershill case and apparent obliviousness to deep discontent within the rank and file.

Ultimately, Victoria taxpayers were left in the dark about allegations against Battershill for more than a year because they were a deemed a confidential “personnel matter.”

Know it all.Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.

Ultimately, Victoria taxpayers were left in the dark about allegations against Battershill for more than a year because they were a deemed a confidential “personnel matter.”

They are trying to play the same card again but an incident involving a subordinate is not a 'personnel matter'. It is a performance issue and the public has the right to know how the police board plans to deal with it.

The irony is that Elsner spent years as an undercover operative and then gets busted on something as simple as this.

And what's up with Desjardin? She bounced around with her statements which indicates she was caught 100% off guard and in a time of panic said some things she shouldn't have which made her appear to be covering for the chief. As tax payers, we're the ones she is accountable to, not the chief or the board.

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Know it all.Citified.ca is Victoria's most comprehensive research resource for new-build homes and commercial spaces.

"Desjardins had on Saturday decried “rumours” about the chief’s personal conduct circling within the department, and warned the both the public and officers within the force from spreading what she considers misinformation without speaking to her or filing an official complaint​."

So what did you expect Barb? You tried to cover up the investigation and then lied to the media and you are surprised that there are rumours?

We have not been told there was no wrongdoing. Or if there was a punishment.

“An allegation was made against me that based on direct messages off of Twitter that I had an inappropriate relationship with a female. The board notified me of that and they hired an independent lawyer to do the investigation. The investigation was completed and on last week I was notified and they found that there was no inappropriate relationship. However, I should not have engaged in the direct messages in the first place and I fully agree.”